It was in 1989, having graduated from college, I embarked on a career in grocery retail. After surviving a crash course on grocery manager skills, my first night as being the M.O.D. (Manager on Duty) had finally arrived. As the store manager left for the night he said “Don’t worry… if anything goes wrong, you got Marvin working with you, and he is our best security guard.” As he walked out the door it was now my first time flying solo.
The first few hours went very smoothly. Around 5:30, the evening rush was in full effect. Then things started to unravel. Marvin walked up to me and said “I’m going to need your help, I am about to arrest a shoplifter and he is a pretty big guy”. Following Marvin, we approached a gentleman who looked like an offensive lineman for the Washington Redskins.
The man immediately pulled out a huge can of Starkist tuna out of his sweater and said “you got me” and without putting up any resistance allowed us to escort him to the backroom. When we got the shoplifter to the backroom, Marvin handcuffed him to the meat cooler door, and I called the police so they could come get the shoplifter.
As we waited for the police, we got called to the front for customer service. I started to ring up an order as Marvin bagged the order. I then saw Marvin shaking his head, just then, a lady at the back of the line, jumped out of the line and started running to the back of the store. Marvin started giving chase, I left my customer and ran after them.
As we chased her, we saw her reaching into her big bag she was carrying, and started throwing Heineken beer bottles on the floor and saying “These are not mine…these are not mine”. After catching up to her, we escorted her to the backroom. Since Marvin’s handcuffs were on the Starkist Man, the Heinken Lady was told to sit on a chair and wait for the police. When the Heineken Lady heard the word “police” she became very upset and fell down on the backroom floor and started crying hysterically. As she was crying, I noticed another customer was walking in the backroom. “What are you doing with my sister” she asked. When I told her we were waiting for the police, the sister joined Heineken Lady on the floor and started crying even more than the Heinken Lady.
As the two sisters continued to cry, our sleeping giant seemed to wake up. The Starkist Man said “You need to get them ladies off the floor”. At which point Marvin, the security guard, shook his head and said “If they want to get up, that is fine, but I am not helping them get up”. This seemed to make the Starkist Man very mad.
Being handcuffed to the meat cooler door, he started yanking on the door and screaming he was going to kick Marvin’s butt when he got loose. At this time the first police officer arrived in the backroom. When he saw the Heineken Lady and her sister crying on the floor, and the giant Starkist Man about to rip the meat cooler door off its hinges….he called for backup.
What happened next was like the scene in Christmas Vacation, when the police raid Clark Griswald’s house at the end of the movie. Police officers started showing up everywhere, through both doors of the backroom, through the meat prep room, through the produce prep room, the deli prep room and even pounding on the backdoor.
About four officers approached the Starkist Man, they turned him around and started to uncuff him from the meat cooler door. As they took the handcuffs off, they told the Starkist Man…”If you move in a hostile way, we will treat that as an act of aggresion and we will hurt you”. The Starkist Man started to calm down, and was escorted to an awaiting police car. Another officer grabbed the Heineken Lady.
As we all walked to the front of the store, I noticed the parking lot. It looked like the end of a Die Hard movie, at least 10 police cars with their lights going, heck even the K-9 unit had arrived. As I watched them leave the store, I noticed my customer still standing at my register…”Its about time you came back ” she said. Later that night, the store manager called to check up on me, I told him about the Starkist Man and Heineken Lady, and he said…..”So you had a normal night”…as I hung up the phone…… I thought if this is a normal night….I do not want to see this place when things get really crazy.
Cogerson, you have a very interesting way of telling about what could have been a pretty dangerous set of incidents in the workplace. I’ve been laughing since the text right under the tuna can… I suppose it won’t seem sincere if I am laughing while I say, “I’m glad it all ended well,” but I really do mean it! 🙂
Hey mythbuster…..thanks for the visit….I appreciate the good wishes….and I am glad you enjoyed reading my page….it is a night that I will never forget.
Hahahahahaha
Hey justgrace1776….glad you got a laugh out of my hub…thanks for stopping by.
you have a great way with words and I simply could not stop reading and laughing! who knew grocery stores could be so exciting!!! thanks for sharing =)
Hey moonfairy….yes it is true…..working at a grocery store has been voted as one of the most exciting jobs in the grocery…..lol. Dealing with shoplifters, employee theft, employee fist fights, armed robberies, discovering dead bodies behind stores, customer self-afflicted injuries, high speed car chases, getting maced in the face by my own security guard….oh the list goes on and on. Thanks for stopping by and for your comment they are both greatly appreciated.
This was a very entertaining and enjoyable story. I thought that, unless you left the premises, at least in some states, that you can’t actually be charged. Regardless, I enjoyed the detail and tone of the story very much.
Hey CakeyCakey….you are correct it is not considered shoplifting until they leave the building….so if they are caught in the store it is considered concealment which is pretty much the same thing as shoplifting….the first two times a person is found guilty of shoplifting/concealment..it is a misdemeanor but the third time it goes to a felony…and in this story the Starkist Man was caught for the third time. Thanks for the visit and the very nice compliment.
Oh my gosh this is so funny! It’s so crazy what people do isn’t it? Soap operas have nothing over real life! Please share anymore stories like this you just made my day:) Voted UP and FUNNY!
Hey Green Art….I am very happy to hear you enjoyed this hub so much….my many years in grocery have provided me tons of stories….so have their own hubs already…..thanks for the visit and the very nice compliment…..you might be interested in checking out the following link as well.